Winning two of three games on successive nights in Utah is something many hockey teams would be thrilled with. But, for the Sun Devil hockey club, that lone defeat over the weekend served as a huge reminder that nothing in hockey is certain.
No. 11 ASU (9-2) dominated the puck Thursday night in Logan, Utah, skating to a 10-1 victory over the Aggies of Utah State (7-9-1). On Friday night in Ogden, the Sun Devils continued their winning ways by beating No. 7 Weber State, 2-1. However, the next night, Weber State (7-2-2) snapped ASU's four-game winning streak by defeating the Devils 3-2 at the Steiner Ice Arena in Salt Lake City.
"We came out really fast against Utah State and did what we had to do," freshman forward Joe Ahern said. "On Friday night we worked hard for the win, but Saturday was a bad loss."
Ahern led the Devils with three goals in the victory over Utah State. Sophomore forward Scott Jacko added a goal and two assists on the night, and several other players contributed in ASU's offensive display. The Devils had 52 shots on goal.
Junior goaltenders Colin Cook and Nick Sobraske split the time in net against the Division II Aggies. Cook saved five of the six shots he faced while Sobraske stopped all 12 Utah State attempts he encountered.
It was the Sun Devils' third victory over Utah State this season. ASU beat the Aggies 8-2 and 2-1 on Nov. 12-13 at Tempe's Oceanside Arena.
Ahern said the team's focus helped achieve the easy victory.
"We didn't let up," he said. "We skated the puck well and transitioned the puck really well. We were disciplined."
That discipline would begin to slip away against archrival Weber State on Friday night, however. ASU spent 26 minutes in the penalty box in its first game of the season against the Wildcats, while it had only spent 14 minutes in the box the night before.
Weber State scored its first and only goal of the night 1:28 into the second period. But, after that goal ASU's defense stepped up in front of Cook, who played the entire game in net. The junior saved 39 shots throughout the night, which proved to be just enough for ASU.
Freshman forward Stephen Hipskind tied the game when he found the net 4:57 into the second period. Then, junior forward Ryan Esner scored the game-winner 4:56 before the final buzzer sounded.
Esner said Friday's game against Weber State was a real challenge.
"It was a battle," he said. "They controlled the puck and then we did. We played hard."
That hard play continued to produce results for ASU during the first five minutes of Saturday's contest against the Wildcats. The Devils jumped out to a 2-0 advantage with early goals from freshman defenseman Tony Bonacorso and junior forward Kelsey Johnston. Unfortunately for ASU, those two goals were not enough.
Weber State battled back to tie the game with two power-play goals in the second period. Then, the Wildcats scored the game-winner with another power-play goal with 5:39 remaining in the game.
Ahern said the team did many things wrong during its second defeat of the season.
"We took some dumb penalties and they capitalized," he said. "We didn't forecheck like we should have, and after we scored twice we couldn't find the net. It was a great chance for us to prove we were the real deal and we ended up losing the game."
Reach the reporter at jeremy.a.cluff@asu.edu
